Salix Caprea; Goat Willow

Can be either a small tree with a straight rigid stem and sparsely domed crown or a multi stemmed, dense, shrubby tree. Often found in more drier places than the rest of the willows. The Goat Willow is a major source of food for moths whole will eat the leaves. 

The leaves are large and oval with a short, twisted point at the tip. The underside of the leaf is noticeably grey and woolly, whereas the top side is a dull green and slightly hairy. They have small irregular teeth.

The shoots are thick, stiff twigs that are hairy in young trees but become smooth and yellowish brown over time.

The Goat Willow is often called 'Pussy Willow' because the silky grey buds resemble a cats paws.

Crataegus Monogyna; Common Hawthorn

A small spreading deciduous tree or a hedgerow shrub that grows up to 15m tall. Either grows on a single stout bole or is multi stemmed with a spreading crown. The berries provide food for a lot of wildlife including birds and moths. 

The branches and twigs are usually densely packed with sharp spines.

The leaves are roughly ovate and deeply lobed reaching 4.5cm long. They usually have three lobes and are pointed with a few teeth near the apex. They have a tough feel with toughs of hair over them. The fruits or haws are usually rounded and bright red, sometimes more of a maroon colour and contain hard cased seeds. 

The bark is usually deeply fissured into a fairly regular pattern of vertical grooves. The outer layers are grey and the lower layers more of an orang colour.  

Corylus Avellan; Hazel

Often no more than a small multi stemmed shrub but can grow into larger tree with a shrubby crown and a short but thick and gnarled bole. it is immensely important for wildlife due to its edible leaves and fruits. 

The leaves are rounded and grow up to 10cm long with a heart shaped base and pointed tip. They are toothed and the upper surface is hairy and on the underside it has white hairs that grow off the veins.

The male catkins grow up to 8cm long and hang down in bunches. In early spring they are a yellow colour.

The branches are upright to spreading. The twigs are covered with stiff hairs and the buds are oval and smooth.

The bark is smooth and often shiny. It peels in thin papery strips.

Alnus Glutinosa; Common Alder

A small spreading tree with a broad domed or conical crown. Can sometimes be multi stemmed. They have very tough roots and are often used to help stabilise river banks and prevent erosion.

The leaves are stalked and noticeably rounded. They grow up to 10cm long and have a slightly notched apex and a wavy or blunty toothed margin. The buds are about 7mm long, on stalks 3mm long

The branches are ascending in young trees but become more spread as it matures. The twigs are sticky when young but turn smooth as it grows. 

The bark is brownish and fissured into square or oblong plates. 

Pinus Sylvestris; Scots Pine

A conical evergreen when young but grows vigorously and becomes much more open and flat topped with a long bole when mature. The male flowers are yellow and grow in clusters at the end of the previous years shoots. The female flowers at the tips of the new shoots.

It has needles in bunches of two up to 7cm long. The are usually twisted with a short point at the tip.

The branches are irregular and often have broken off, remaining, old branches lower down the bole. 

The bark is a distinctive red or orange at the top of the bole and a more red or grey low down. The lower trunk is scaly whereas the top half is more papery.  

Taxus Baccata; Common Yew

Broadly conical conifer with dense foliage. They can be in topiary. This is where it is clipped to form substantial, impenetrable and long lasting hedges. They prefer more drier, lime-rich soils. Often planted in churchyards and some are found to be more than 1,000 years old. They are fairly resistant to harsh weather and atmospheric pollution in towns. Strong part of English history as the timber was used for making English Longbows.

The leaves are flattened, needle like and up to 4cm long and 3cm wide, narrowing to a sharp point. 

The branches are level or ascending and have irregular, slightly pendulous twigs hanging from them. 

Trunks of mature trees can be deeply twisted. The bark is reddish and peeling to expose a reddish brown underneath.

 

Fraxinus Excelsior; Ash

A large deciduous tree with a straight trunk and a high, open, domed crown. They grow up to about 40m tall. It grows well in limestone uplands, but also thrives on heavy base-rich clays. Woodland trees have the best shape whereas in hedgerows seem to have stunted growth or are misshapen.

The branches are mostly ascending ending with flattened grey twigs tipped with sooty black buds at the tips. 

The leaves are pinnate and up to 35cm long with a flattened stem that may be hairy bearing 7-13 ovate-lanceolate and toothed leaflets, each up to about 12cm long. leaves are among the latest to open in spring of any native tree.

The bark is smooth and grey in younger trees but as it matures it gets vertical fissures and the true colour is normally obscured by large colonies of lichens.

Betula Pendula; Silver Birch

A slender, fast-growing deciduous tree with a narrow, tapering crown. As they get older they form a weeping habit especially if growing in a open, uncrowded situation.

The leaves are up to 7cm long, triangular and pointed with large teeth separated by smaller teeth. Thin and smooth when mature.

The branches are ascending in young trees but twigs and shoots are pendulous, slender and smooth, mostly brown and pitted with many white resin glands.

The bark is a very pronounced silvery white colour but as the tree gets older it becomes deeply fissured and often flaking away from the trunk. A pattern of black diamonds is often seen on the trunks in older trees.